Nature's Advocate
by AnneAlysse
Summary: Shikamaru and his team are wandering through a forest one day, on their way to a village called Youseimura, when they run into a hunted elf human hybrid. Can they save her from her own deadly elfin kin without getting themselves killed in the process?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

--Shikamaru's PoV--

"Asuma-sensei, are we there yet?" Ino whined from where she, Chouji, and Asuma were walking ahead of me with their backpacks and, in Chouji's case, bags of potato chips in hand.

Asuma sighed and replied for the fifth time in the past three hours, "No, Ino. We're not there yet. We're not even close to being there. It's going to take us two days to reach Youseimura, not two hours."

I sighed and thought, _Troublesome woman._

The next few minutes were traveled in near silence, the only things keeping the silence from becoming complete being our footsteps and the sound of Chouji chewing his chips loudly.

We were going around a bend in the tree-lined dirt path, Asuma still in the lead, when we suddenly froze.

A large chestnut-colored stallion was blocking our path, a snarling gray wolf standing to either side of the beautiful creature, each with a savage beauty of their own.

I went wide-eyed along with the others. We could handle crazy people, but psychotic animals were a different story.

"Asuma-sensei!" Ino cried when one of the wolves suddenly lunged at Asuma, fangs bared.

The man cried out when the animal's powerful jaws closed around his left leg, knocking him on his ass.

The other vicious wolf headed right for me while the horse went after Chouji and Ino.

The wolf bit down on my wrist just before a loud whistle sounded from a tree branch above me.

All three of the animals immediately released their prey and stepped back, giving a young girl room to land in front of them with her back to us.

"Moto! Wataru! Eri! What have I told you about attacking travelers?!" As the animals began to whine and look remorseful because of the girl's words, I studied her while holding my bleeding wrist.

She looked to be about my age, twelve or so, with waist-length, straight green hair. The color would have looked wrong on someone else, but it seemed to fit this strange girl perfectly for some reason.

"No, I did not say you could eat them if they smelled good!" the green-haired girl yelled as if she could understand one of the wolves' guilty-sounding growls.

After a few more growls from the wolves and a neigh or two from the horse, the girl said, "You're supposed to fight off the other animals! _I'm_ supposed to fight off the humans! And that's only if they're a threat! Do these guys_ look _like threats to you?!" She gestured back at me and the others, and I couldn't help but notice that her nails were long, clean, and painted a light, shimmery green despite the fact that she seemed to live out here in the forest.

While she continued to argue with the animals about whether we were threats or not, I continued to study her.

She was only a little bit shorter than me, dressed in a short, white silk dress with spaghetti straps that showed off a lot of her skin, scarred from what was probably previous battles and pale even though she probably spent a lot of time in the sun. She didn't have any shoes on at the moment, but judging by the fact that her feet weren't cut up or anything, she probably had some shoes laying around somewhere.

The wind suddenly picked up, blowing the girl's green hair to the side, and I went wide-eyed, just barely keeping my jaw from dropping. My companions had the exact same reaction, even Asuma, who had finally gotten to his feet with the help of an uninjured Ino.

The girl's ears were pointed, like an elf's or something.

She turned after a moment, apparently noticing our shock.

The wind died down, her hair dropping to cover her pointed ears as she asked, "What?"

I gazed into her green eyes, which were a shade darker than her hair, shocked. Before I could answer her question, though, she rushed forward and gently took my injured wrist in her hands.

"Damn it. I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me she had bitten you?" she asked, carefully turning my arm over and studying my wound. She caught sight of Asuma's leg after a moment and sighed angrily. "Why didn't you say anything, either?"

She released my wrist and turned to face the two wolves and the horse. "You're lucky I love you. Get out of my sight," she told the creatures, glaring at them.

The wolves whimpered and walked off into the trees with the stallion following close behind.

"Come on, people. I'll help you fix up your wounds," the green-eyed girl said with a tired sigh while turning and walking slowly into the grassy forest, ignoring the dirt path that stretched out before her.

I exchanged a startled look with my teammates and our sensei before turning and following her into the shade of the tall, ancient trees that made up the beautiful forest.

"Take off your clothes," the pointy-eared girl commanded once we were all standing at the edge of a clean-looking, tree-surrounded lake.

"Excuse me?" Asuma sounded just as confused as he looked.

"Well, you don't actually have to take your clothes off. Just stick your injured leg in the water, and it'll heal," the girl stated with a shrug. Her green eyes suddenly darted to me. "The same goes for you. Stick your wrist in, and it'll heal."

I looked from Asuma to the lake and then back to the girl again, my dark eyes suspicious.

She sighed angrily after a moment while grabbing my uninjured wrist and yanking me toward the water.

"Hey!" I cried, dropping my and Asuma's bags as I was pulled forward by this abnormally strong girl.

"It's not going to kill you," she growled before shoving me right into the water.

I landed face down in the shallow water, taking a moment to study the sandy ground that gradually sloped down into the dark abyss that was the bottom of the clean pond. That peaceful moment ended when I noticed a few droplets of red hitting the water beside my head.

"What are you doing?" I asked angrily, getting to my knees in the shallow part of the lake and watching the green-haired girl squeeze a few more drops of blood from her pricked index finger.

"Fresh elf blood is what makes the water work properly," she stated, her dark eyes moving to mine. "And yes, I am an elf. We aren't just baby-stealers in fairy tales."

When she figured out that I wasn't going to put my wrist in the water, she sighed, but this time, it sounded a bit sad.

Kneeling beside me, she gently took my injured wrist in her hands and carefully dipped it into the water beside me leg, so she was leaning over me, shoving the back of her head right into my face without realizing it.

The wind blew toward us, carrying the sweet smell of cinnamon sugar to my nostrils. I closed my eyes and breathed the scent in greedily. I liked the way she smelled...

I felt her eyes on me suddenly, and my own eyes snapped open. I blushed the slightest bit when I saw her tiny smirk, glad I had my back to my teammates. A sudden tingle in my wrist forced my eyes away from hers and to my wound.

It was glowing a light green color that matched her eyes almost perfectly and healing quite rapidly.

I went wide-eyed and tried to pull my wrist from her grasp, but she held on, making sure my injury remained under the water.

"Relax," she murmured, watching my wrist as it continued to heal.

We were both silent for a moment, then I just had to say, "So you're an elf?"

She nodded. "Yep. Well, I'm technically only half elf. My mother was a pure-blooded elf, while my father was a pure-blooded human. They were executed soon after my birth because interbreeding isn't allowed, and I was held captive in my own village. I escaped about a month ago, though, and I've been living here with the animals ever since," she explained absently, still watching my wrist. "I'm surprised my blood activates the healing properties of this pond. I thought my human blood would effect it somehow."

"What village are you from?" I decided to ask after a few more moments of silence, ignoring the eyes of my teammates that I could feel on me.

"Youseimura," she replied simply.

I froze suddenly, and she looked up at my face. "That's where you're headed, isn't it?" she asked flatly.

I nodded. "Is it an elf village or something?"

"Yep. The only elves that are still alive today, actually. They disguise themselves as a small ninja village, though. They don't have the ability to access their chakra, but they do have superhuman strength and agility." She pulled my wrist out of the water and held it in front of my face. "There ya go. All better." She then released my arm and got to her feet, ignoring the fact that her legs and the bottom of her dress were soaking wet.

I got to my feet, studying my wrist. Making a satisfied noise, I looked over at the green-eyed half-elf. "Thanks."

She gave me a brief smile. "No problem." Her look turned cold as she turned to Asuma. "You next, and don't you dare refuse. I am _not_ afraid to toss you in like I did him."

Asuma, being afraid of the little girl, decided to take off his shoe and stick his injured calf into the water like a good boy.

The girl made a soft sound of approval before slicing her other index finger open with an abnormally sharp canine and letting some of the blood drip into the water.

After a few minutes, Asuma's leg was completely healed and the green-haired girl was once again looking satisfied.

"Good. Now, you guys wait here while I go get you something to eat. It's going to be dark soon, and I don't want to be out gathering food when the hunter-nins begin their usual search of the premises." With that, the beautiful girl turned and walked away from the lake, leaving me sopping wet and already tired.

_Hunter-nins? How troublesome._

"My name's Kikei, by the way. Kikei Otome," our green-haired hostess stated just after sunset as we all sat around a campfire, eating various kinds of berries and some of Chouji's chips.

"Your name is Freak Maiden?" Ino said rudely, shocked at what the poor half-elf's name translated to.

"Yep. I'm not sure what my parents actually named me, but the village elder decided to name me Kikei, 'freak.'" The gentle girl explained while lightly stroking the fluffy white head of the rabbit she had sleeping on her lap.

Asuma glared slightly at his blonde student before looking over at Kikei with a small smile and saying, "I'm Asuma. It's nice to meet you."

She smiled the slightest bit in return. "Likewise."

"I'm Chouji Akimichi," the boy told the half-human, his words muffled by the chips he was currently pulverizing with his teeth.

"Ino Yamanaka." The girl was glaring at Kikei, but I didn't really know why.

I didn't even bother to question the mean look, though, and instead focused on telling the generous forest maiden my name. "Shikamaru Nara." I hadn't meant for it to come out sounding so lazy, but it's not like I could help it, really.

"You smell like deer," Kikei stated quietly, her soft green eyes focused on the rabbit she was still petting gently, ever so gently.

I blushed. "I do?" I had showered after being around the deer. How could she still smell the stench of deer on me?

"Yes," she replied with a small nod. "Elves have very sensitive noses, especially when it comes to the scents of animals. I was lucky to at least inherit that much elfin ability from my mother, although I can only smell animals, not people."

"Speaking of the elves, what else can you tell us about them?" Asuma asked, peering out at the pond full of healing water located directly across from him.

"I'm not actually supposed to say anything, but you guys don't seem like the untrustworthy type. Eri would have killed you all on sight if you were." She looked up, sensing our confusion. "She's an excellent judge of character." Her gaze dropped back to her little bunny friend. "Most animals are, but Eri's skill in that area is exceptional."

"You know the animals in this forest quite well, don't you?" Asuma questioned, now watching Kikei.

"Of course. Elves have always interacted with animals quite well. Some better than others, though. I'm one of those better ones despite my human blood."

The elf-human hybrid seemed like she would only answer questions, not just tell us about her race outright, so I decided to ask the next question.

"What are some other common traits and abilities that the elves possess?"

The girl shrugged. "Some are peaceful villagers, others are born warriors. The only things that make the elves different from the humans are their strength, speed, almost frightening grace, and considerably heightened senses, as well as their inability to use their chakra."

"What about you? What traits and abilities do you have?" Ino was the one asking the questions this time.

"I have the speed and grace, but not the superhuman strength. In place of the strength, I have the ability to use my chakra. It doesn't do me much good, though, seeing as I can't do too much with it. I also have the hearing of a slightly advanced human, the smelling ability of an elf, and perfect vision during both night and day." She glanced up at us sadly. "I sound like I'd be pretty strong, don't I?"

"Yes," I replied, wondering why she seemed to depressed all of a sudden.

"Psh. I wish," she muttered. "I have a few of the strengths of each race, most of which I can't even use properly, and nearly all of the weaknesses." She sighed and got to her feet, glancing up at the full moon. "Well, it's almost midnight. You guys should get some sleep."

She turned to leave, and I quickly asked, "Where are you going? Shouldn't you stay here and sleep, too?"

She smiled at me over her shoulder. "Elves are nocturnal, and I have some stuff to do. I can smell a wounded owl nearby." She turned and began to walk away again, adding a quick, "Relax. I'm not going to go alert a giant ninja army to your presence or anything," before disappearing into the eerie darkness that was the forest away from our campfire.

--Kikei's PoV--

I jumped from one branch to another swiftly with my eerie elfin grace. _The hunter-nins are still lurking nearby,_ I growled mentally. _They must have smelled the humans or something. _A rustle in the branches to my left caused me to dart to the right and hide behind a bush, my green eyes remaining on the rustling leaves above.

"Kikei, I know you're there. Don't even bother trying to hide."

I growled aloud this time as I stepped out of the bushes. "Tatsuki," I hissed, glaring up at the older man standing on the branch I had been occupying only moments ago. He had short, spiky brown hair, reddish-purple eyes, and a cockiness that would fit a muscular twenty-year-old better than it fit this somewhat scrawny sixteen-year-old.

As I studied him more in the moonlight, I realized he wasn't wearing his usual hunter-nin clothes. Hell, he wasn't even wearing a mask.

Noticing the confusion my dark eyes held, he smirked. "I'm not here to fight you or capture you or anything," he stated, casually jumping down from the tree branch. "I'm actually here to distract you."

"Distract me?" My confusion was slowly turning into alarm.

"Yep. Distracting you while my hunter-nin buddies captured your little human friends."

My eyes widened and I immediately turned, running back toward my camp, where I had left those poor, defenseless humans. _Damn it! Why the hell am I so stupid?!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Fuck. Shikamaru, Asuma, Ino, Chouji," I whispered helplessly from my perch on a tree branch high above my campsite beside the lake. The humans were all gagged and tied up, being thrown over elfin shoulders and carted off to Youseimura. At least, I hoped that was where they were headed...

Silently, I began to follow the group of elves and bound humans. The bark of the limbs I landed on and pushed off of cut into my pale feet, seeing as I had left my only pair of shoes down by the water, but I ignored the slight pain and kept going. Luckily, I was downwind of the elves, so they couldn't smell that I was following them, and my movements were silent enough that they didn't hear them.

Due to the high stamina and speed elves had, both I and the males carrying the humans were able to keep running until we reached the village about an hour later. It was obvious that I was only half elf, though, seeing as I had to stop at the gate to catch my breath while the other elves just kept right on going. They weren't winded or tired at all, but I was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Five minutes after I had stopped, I leapt over the low wall the wooden gate was set in, silently beginning to make my way through the relatively large village to where I knew the humans had been taken: The village leader's mansion. I myself had been taken there on several occasions, and never had anything pleasant happened to me there.

I stuck to the shadows and took back alleys, managing to remain unnoticed until I had myself perched on the wall surrounding the leader's property. Even then, the only person that noticed me was a civilian elf passing behind the wall at my back, and he was too young to have any idea who I was. The younger elves had never been allowed to witness my beatings here. I turned my attention away from the child when I heard Asuma's voice.

"We've come from Konohagakure at your reque-"

"I know," the old elf standing before the ninja said shortly, his voice harsh. He was standing on the stairs that led up to his home, glaring down at the four humans that were in a line on the ground on their knees before him, ropes around their wrists and upper bodies.

I shuddered at the fierce look in the man's dark green eyes, knowing it well. It was the same way he used to look at me, as if it were my fault that I was a halfbreed. My own green eyes widened when I realized that they were being blamed for my having said too much. It would be my fault if-

"Then why are you treating us like this?" Asuma's voice interrupted my thoughts, keeping me from getting too panicked.

"Because you know what we are," the white-haired elf answered, his voice still harsh.

"What you are?" Asuma said, feigning confusion.

"Don't act like you don't know. One of our scouts saw you with that worthless halfbreed, and she undoubtedly told you all about us."

"What halfbreed? We met a girl in the forest, but she was just a hu-"

"Silence!" the elf bellowed, causing Ino and Chouji to jump. The man's pale gray kimono flared as he spun, heading toward the open door of his mansion. "We know that you know what we are, therefore, you must die." With that, he entered his home, the doors sliding closed behind him.

"Well, you heard the man," one of the elf ninja, a dark-haired, pale-eyed male, said lightly. "It's time for you to die." He and three other elves unsheathed their katanas simultaneously, causing the four humans to go wide-eyed.

"No!" I screamed before I could stop myself. I covered my mouth, but it was too late. All of the ninja in the area had their eyes on me now.

Another elf ninja chuckled, his green eyes flashing. "Kikei. Have you come to die, too?"

I jumped off of the wall gracefully and landed in a crouch, standing a moment later. My eyes narrowed at the older male as I said, "You're going to be the one dying today. You and all of your little ninja buddies."

All of the elves began laughing hysterically, acting as if this were the funniest thing they had ever heard, and, honestly, it probably was. I was just one small female half-elf going up against a bunch of well-trained elfin males. I would've laughed if I were them, too.

"You can't be serious," another male managed to choke out between loud laughs.

"Oh, but I am." And then, without hesitation, I put my fingers to my mouth and blew, letting a loud whistle ring through the village and surrounding forest. At the sound of the howls and roars and various other noises I received in reply from the animals in the surrounding area, the laughing elves froze. Then, quickly, they all let loose their own loud whistles. Their eyes widened at what greeted them.

Silence.

"No...No way," an elf stated, shaking his head.

"This can't be happening," another male breathed.

"These animals are ours...How did she manage to take them...?" a third ninja whispered.

On the outside, I was smirking, but on the inside, I was just as confused as they were. They were right when they said that the animals around here were theirs. These animals had been around these elves for their entire lives, more than likely. They'd virtually grown up with the people in this village, so they should have had some sort of bond or something with them. They should've known the sound of the local elves' whistles. They should've responded to them. They should've been eager to show their allegiance. But instead, all they had given them was silence.

Were they choosing to answer my pleas over the other elves' calls...? I didn't get much of a chance to ponder the thought.

"Who cares?!" the elf that had first spoken shouted. "Just kill her before she can sway them further!"

They all charged at me, armed with swords and kunai and their insane strength, and I just stood their, frozen in place, unmoving.

"Kikei!" I heard a couple of the humans scream, sounding worried and almost...frightened.

"There will be blood, pain, suffering," I said softly, closing my eyes. "And you will have no one to blame but yourselves." Slowly, my fingers made their way to my mouth again, and I calmly let out another whistle. I altered the pitch slightly and had a pack of dogs, some of which were wearing collars as if they belonged to someone, at my side in an instant. Even the smaller ones rushed at my charging enemies with their fangs bared, becoming savages instead of pets.

A few of the ninja fell, screaming, when the animals pounced on them, but most of them managed to dodge the creatures and keep running toward me. I altered the pitch of my whistle once more, calling several birds to my aid. They attacked quickly, knocking a few more elves to the ground while pecking and clawing at them.

I had only two ninja left now. They both looked frightened, but they were obviously still determined. Yet another change in pitch had a few cats taking one of them down, and I decided to fight the remaining elf on my own.

He was the man who had been so eager to kill the humans only minutes ago, the first to reach for his sword and probably the best fighter lurking in the crowd of elves today. There were better, of course, but he was still very strong and well-trained. I knew this because he used to be one of my friends, though he'd turned on me the moment he'd had the chance to become an elfin ninja. His name was Etsuya, and I had stopped caring about him the moment he'd betrayed me.

Without a word, I moved forward to meet him head-on. I dodged a swing of his katana, then another, followed by a punch and a kick. I leapt back, narrowly avoiding a jab of his blade. Swiftly, I moved around him, slamming my foot into his back once I was behind him. He stumbled forward, but managed to catch himself before he fell. He spun, aiming a kick at my stomach. I grabbed his foot and shoved him back, immediately following him so I could land a nice punch to his jaw. I might've been weak for an elf, but I had hit him with enough force to send him to the ground, so I couldn't possibly have been all _that _weak.

His back hit the dirt and he slid about a foot, his katana flying from his hand. I went after the weapon quickly, picking it up off of the ground just as my opponent surged to his feet. When he saw that I had his sword, he pulled a few kunai out of the pouch he had hooked to the back of his belt, then he lunged at me once more.

I sidestepped a few swings of the kunai, somehow managing to throw in a counterattack with my sword after a moment. I blocked a kunai and shoved him back, swinging my own blade and catching him in the stomach with it. The sharp steel tore through the front of his thick black vest and T-shirt, soon slicing through the flesh beneath. He staggered back while watching some of his own blood drip to the ground from the shallow cut I had given him. Before he could do anything else, I slammed the hilt of the katana into his skull hard enough to knock him out.

As Etsuya fell to the ground, I looked around at what had only recently become a battlefield. I found that the animals had killed no one, only knocked them out, as I had instructed through my whistles. The humans were the only ones still conscious, and they were also surveying the property, all but Asuma and Shikamaru looking horrified at the amount of blood spattered across the ground. As far as I could tell, my animals had remained unharmed for the most part. A couple of the dogs had a few cuts, but the wounds weren't too serious.

"Sorry I got you guys caught up in all of this," I said quietly as I fell to my knees behind Asuma, using my stolen katana to cut through his bindings.

"It's not your fault they did this to us," the man stated while I moved on to freeing his students.

"If you say so," I sighed. Soon enough, everyone was freed, so we all stood, looking around once more. I was so caught up in checking on my animals that I didn't even notice the village leader until he whistled. The animals immediately surrounded my companions and I, snarling threateningly. My eyes widened, though I had seen this coming. Of course the leader's influence was stronger than mine. It only made sense. When I saw that more elfin ninja had come to join the animals, I felt myself growing a slight bit panicky.

We were dead.

"We might have allowed you to live if you hadn't fought us, Kikei," the leader said as he watched from the safety of his doorway.

"I highly doubt that, Yoshinobu," I replied, my eyes not leaving the animals and ninja before me.

"Don't you dare utter my name, you pathetic halfbreed," the older man spat.

"Fuck you, Yoshinobu." Now everyone seemed shocked. The humans because I, a twelve-year-old female, had just cursed, and the elves because I, a shunned halfbreed, had just disobeyed the ruler of the elves.

"Kill them all!" the leader commanded angrily, following up with a quick whistle to encourage the animals to do the same thing as the elves.

I barely noticed that the humans were preparing to fight right along with me. I was too busy being an idiot and charging right at the elf closest to me. My blade met his, his strength easily beating mine and knocking the weapon out of my hand. I crouched down to avoid a second swing of the male's sword, then I sprang back up, landing an uppercut to the guy's jaw. He stumbled back, but managed to steady himself quickly, his blade biting into my stomach before I had the chance to move. No more than a second later, his foot met the deep gash he had just created, knocking me to the ground.

I had no choice but to lay there and watch as he went to join his comrades in the battle with the humans. Blood stained my dress and rapidly pooled on the ground around me, but I ignored this and allowed my eyes to remain on the humans.

Shikamaru's shadow had attached itself to the shadows of three elves, and he was now forcing them to hold still as Chouji became a giant ball. He rolled across the frozen elves as well as several more of the bastards, sending them all to the ground, unconscious. Shikamaru then moved on to capturing the shadows of a few more elves while Chouji returned to his normal size.

I looked around for Ino and found her and her sensei handling the animals. They were being careful not to kill them, but they were doing what was necessary to keep them from doing any real damage.

As I watched them, I realized that I couldn't just lay here, no matter how hurt I was. I needed to get up and help them. I carefully sat up, wincing as I did so, then I slowly stood. My legs nearly gave, though I forced them to support my weight so I could take a small step toward the humans and their opponents.

"I wouldn't bother, if I were you," Yoshinobu stated from behind me. As I slowly turned to face him, he continued. "You're too injured to do any good, and you know you're outnumbered. You and your human friends don't stand a chance."

"Do I really need to say it again, Yoshinobu? Fuck. You," I said, my voice weak, but firm. The man had me by the throat in a heartbeat, holding my body high above the ground with a single arm.

"Do not speak to me like that," he hissed, his tight hold on my neck suffocating me.

"Fuck you, you stupid asshole," I managed to choke out as I struggled to free myself, my long, painted nails digging into his wrist. "I hope you die and burn in hell for all of eternity." His hold tightened further, keeping me from saying anything else as my vision swam.

I heard a scream from behind me, recognizing Ino's voice almost immediately. Yoshinobu glanced around my slender body to see what was happening, and I used the distraction to my advantage. My foot met his face suddenly, and his hold on me loosened. Another kick, and I hit the ground. As I coughed and greedily took in as much air as my lungs could hold, I rolled onto my injured stomach and began making my way to where Ino was being strangled by an elf.

Just as I saw Asuma coming to the girl's rescue, I felt a foot collide with my side. I cried out and squeezed my eyes shut, expecting more blows, but none came. When I glanced over, I found that Shikamaru had managed to get a hold of the old man's shadow, keeping him in place and saving me from a few broken ribs. I looked over at Asuma and Ino, finding that they were now standing with Chouji amongst a sea of unconscious elves and animals. All of the humans were injured, covered in the occasional splash of blood and sporting a few cuts and bruises, but it didn't seem as if they were going to be dying any time soon.

"What are we going to do with him?" Shikamaru asked, his body trembling as Yoshinobu probably fought to break free of his hold.

"Knock him out," I told the boy while I slowly got to my hands and knees. "After that, we have to run like hell."

"Why don't we just kill him?" Ino asked, glaring at the elf.

"If you kill him, you'll start a war. You're already going to be hunted for knowing too much as it is. A war wouldn't help you at all," I explained, now forcing myself to stand once again. "Whoa..." I staggered back when a wave of dizziness hit me, nearly sending me to the ground again. After a moment, I fell to my knees.

"She has a point," Asuma stated, walking over to the pissed off elf. "We'll just knock him out and leave him here."

"What about her?" Chouji questioned, his eyes wandering to me as I swayed where I sat.

"We take her with us," Asuma said simply. He carefully knocked Yoshinobu unconscious, and that was the last thing I saw before my injury finally had me hitting the ground, taking a little nap of my own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

My eyes shot open when I felt cool water lapping against my body. I immediately tried to sit up, only to be gently forced back down by Ino.

"Relax," she told me as she watched the blood from my wounds begin to mix with the familiar healing water of the elfin lake.

Looking down at myself, I realized that my dress was gone, leaving me in just my white underwear and the strip of white cloth that I called a bra. A light blush immediately colored my cheeks, and Ino laughed.

"Don't worry. Asuma, Chouji, and Shikamaru are scouting the area, so they won't see you," she informed me with a smile.

I sighed, relieved, my blush fading. "Oh...All right. That's good."

As we sat in silence, I looked up at the sky. It seemed the sun was beginning to set, tinging the horizon with all the pretty colors of the dusk while stars mingled in the darkness that made up the other part of the sky. Apparently, I'd been out for a full day, but I was only now being taken to my lake. I suppose that made sense, though, since we'd probably had to hide from elf scouts for a while before we could move.

"It must be nice," the blonde kunoichi said after almost a minute, her gaze also focused on the sky.

"What must be nice?" I asked, watching her.

"Being able to sit out here and enjoy nature all the time, knowing it won't hurt you because you're so closely linked to it." She smiled down at me, and I couldn't help but smile slightly in return.

"It is," I agreed. "But..." I frowned, allowing my eyes to return to the sky. "It'd be better if I was out here by choice, not because I had nowhere else to go."

Ino's smile fell, and all she said was a soft, "Oh..."

I nodded slowly, waiting for a moment before asking, "What's your village like?"

Her smile returned at this. "Happy...Full of people...Always busy...It can sometimes get boring, but still...It's home."

"That sounds even nicer than my overly-friendly nature," I stated, offering her another small smile.

She nodded, laughing lightly. "Nah. It all just depends on what you prefer."

I merely shrugged, continuing to smile as we lapsed into a pleasant silence. I watched my wounds slowly heal while Ino just watched the sky change colors. Soon, I found myself staring at the trees across the lake from me, seeing as I was in the perfect position to do so. Ino had me laying with my head still in shallow water while the rest of my wounded body was completely submerged, thus my head was propped up slightly so I could see the opposite bank without have to try too hard to do so.

"Thank you," Ino said softly after a few minutes had passed. I looked over at her and found that she had her blue eyes focused on the water, apparently no longer finding the sky too interesting now that it was almost completely dark.

"For what?" I questioned, now turning my gaze to the starry night sky.

"Saving us from those people."

"Don't thank me for that. I got you into that mess, so it was my duty to get you out."

The blonde shook her head. "You could've left us to fend for ourselves. That's what most people would've done, seeing as someone in your position could have been executed just for entering the village."

"Well, I'm not most people."

She laughed, nodding. "I can see that." She reached over and touched one of my pointed ears, and it twitched at her touch. "Those are so cool."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "If you say so."

"The guys are back," Ino told me while glancing back at the shore behind us.

My eyes widened, my face turning bright red even though I knew the males probably couldn't even see me at the moment. "What do I do?!"

"Just wait here. I'll bring you some different clothes to wear in a second," Ino told me as she got to her feet. She offered me a quick smile, then she turned and headed to her companions. I had to wait for only a moment before the girl returned to me with a backpack in her hand. "All we have left are Shikamaru's extra clothes. The rest were lost when the elves took our other bags. Asuma is willing to give you his jacket, too."

I cocked my head up at her, but said calmly, "All right." I then blushed again and asked, "Are they watching?"

"Nah. They said no one's following us yet, so they're working on building a fire."

"Okay..." I cautiously got to my feet, glancing down at myself to make sure my wounds were fully healed before I took the clothing Ino was now offering. Soon, I was clad in a pair of Shikamaru's dark pants and Asuma's green jacket, and it felt really weird to me. Some guy's pants and some other guy's jacket...Yeah. Just a bit strange.

Ino walked over to the males with me, and I blushed for some unknown reason as I sat down between Chouji and Shikamaru by their little campfire. Almost immediately, the larger of the two boys whined, "I'm hungry."

I got to my feet with a smile, now finding a way to be useful. "I can't get you any of the snack food that you probably want, but I can get you some berries. Would that be all right?"

Chouji nodded vigorously. "Anything would be better than starving to death."

"Okay. I'll be back soon." When I turned to walk away, Asuma stopped me.

"Are you sure it'd be smart to go alone?"

I glanced back at him and nodded, still wearing a smile. "Yes. If anything happens, I can get my animals to help me, but I'm sure nothing will happen."

The older male seemed hesitant, but he eventually nodded. "All right. Just be careful."

"I will." I then walked away, heading into the forest to search for food.

I returned to the campsite about twenty minutes later with my arms full of a pretty, vibrant blue fruit. They were shaped somewhat like apples, and they sort of had the same feel to them, but I knew that they lacked the core and tasted twelve times better.

"Here ya go," I said happily as I kneeled in front of Chouji, smiling once more. "Take as many as you want."

He took about three of the bright fruits, studying them thoughtfully. "Thanks, but what are these?"

"They're called akarui fruit. They only grow around elfin waters, which is probably why you've never seen them before." I got up and moved over to kneel before Ino as I spoke, allowing her to take one of the apple-like objects. I moved on to Asuma next, then Shikamaru, who merely looked up at me when he realized that I was offering him the last one.

"Don't you want that?"

"Nah. You can have it. I'll go get more." I dropped the blue fruit on his lap, then did as I said I would.

This time, I returned with only a couple of those pretty fruits. I smiled as I watched the ninja happily chomp away at their food, obviously enjoying the sweetness and juiciness of the fruit. I myself had always liked them mainly because of their smooth texture.

"I have two more, in case anyone wants them," I said after a moment.

"You can have them," Chouji told me as he finished off his final akarui fruit.

"Yeah. Just one filled me up," Ino added, offering me a smile.

Asuma and Shikamaru just shook their heads, so I smiled and said, "All right." I then sat down beside the fire and proceeded to neatly eat a piece of my own fruit. I brought the second one up to my mouth a moment later, but then, I noticed all of the eyes focused on me from the surrounding trees. Without a word, I tossed the fruit up into the air, watching as a big bird flew out and snatched it up.

"Do you guys need to sleep now or anything?" I asked while looking around at all of the people.

Asuma nodded. "We probably should."

"All right. I'll keep watch, then, but only if someone's willing to carry me while I sleep during the day tomorrow, since I'm sure you want to be heading back to your village by then."

"That'll work," the man said with another nod.

I got to my feet, smiling once more. "All right, then. I'll make sure nothing harms any of you." And with that, I leapt up into one of the trees, preparing to do just as I told him I would.

-

The scene everyone would awake to at sunrise the next day would be an...interesting one. Nothing bad had happened during the night, so I figured that nothing would happen while the sun came up, either. This gave me some time to play with the fish and the birds.

I was standing in the lake with the cool water up to my hips, my borrowed pants and jacket laying by the remnants of the campfire. My green eyes were narrowed down at the water, and my body was completely still. Suddenly, a fish popped up out of the water, and I went for it, only to end up missing it and hitting the water for no reason.

"Cheaters!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I got to my knees, forgetting that the people laying on the shore were currently trying to sleep. Suddenly, I had a couple of my own lovely birds flying at me. They both grabbed strands of my hair, leading me to scream "Ow! Ow! Ow!" as I was pulled over into the water again. The next time I popped up, I was whining, "Neeeeh. Why are you all so hurtful?!"

The people sitting on dry land were now staring at me, but I didn't really notice them. I was too distracted by the three wolves running right at me. I screamed at the top of my lungs and tried to stand so I could run, but one of the wolves pounced on me before I was even fully upright. I screamed again as I went down, at least being smart enough to shut my mouth right before I hit the water.

I managed to shove the wolf off of me, then I leapt to my feet, instantly tackling her. She let out a playful growl as we went down. She easily got back up after a few seconds of rolling around in the water, even though I was sprawled on her back with my arms around her neck.

"No fair!" I yelled. "No freaking fair!" She knocked me off of her back like I was no more than an annoying insect or something, then she ran off with the other wolves.

I just sat there in the water, panting and looking around to make sure nothing else wanted to play. Luckily, it seemed I was now alone in my lovely lake.

"Are you all right, Kikei?" Asuma called from the shore, now on his feet along with the rest of his squad.

I blushed furiously and leapt to my feet, keeping my back to them. "U-um...Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I woke you guys up."

"It's all right," Asuma said with a laugh. "We should get going soon, anyway."

I nodded, then asked hesitantly, "U-um...Could you guys maybe...turn around for a second?"

"Oh, yes! Of course!" Ino said loudly, probably glaring at the males who hadn't had the sense to do that before.

I then hurried back to the shore and quickly put my borrowed clothing on, glad that they were all willing to give me a slight bit of privacy. "Thanks," I said once I was dressed. As they turned to face me, I smirked, remembering the deal we'd made yesterday. "So...who's going to carry me while I sleep?"

Asuma glanced at his genin. I watched as he immediately ruled Chouji out for obvious reasons, then Ino for other obvious reasons. That left him with either Shikamaru or himself.

"I'll do it," the older man finally told me. "That is, if that's all right with you."

I shrugged. "Sure."

"All right." He turned to his team. "I'll carry Kikei, and the three of you can decide who's carrying what otherwise." The genin nodded, then did as they were told. It was Shikamaru who ended up carrying their only remaining bag, filled with what was left in it as well as the few garments I had. It wasn't much at all.

"Are we ready?" Asuma asked after a few minutes, looking around at his squad and me. The genin nodded, but I shook my head, hesitant.

"No." The horror of this whole situation was only now beginning to sink in, and I found myself suddenly panicked. I shook my head violently now, repeating loudly, "No!" I took a step back, away from the group, turning my gaze to the familiar lake, the familiar shore, the familiar animals watching me, the only things that were familiar to me in this evil world anymore.

"But, Kikei...you have to go," Ino told me gently, taking a step toward me.

My wide, frightened eyes darted to the blonde girl as I took another step back, away from her. "I don't want to. I won't fit in anywhere else. The people in your village will shun me, just like everyone else has, and then, you'll leave me so they won't shun you, too, and I'll...I'll be all alone...and...and..." I trailed off, starting to hyperventilate.

"Relax, Kikei," Asuma told me quietly, reaching out to gently take my shoulders. His big hands made them seem even smaller than they already were. "Some may shun you at first, but most won't. We definitely won't."

I started to calm down, but I glanced back at the wolves and birds and various other creatures watching me. "But...what about my animals? I can't just leave them..."

"You can come back to visit them sometime," Chouji told me.

"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed. He looked at the animals lazily and added, "They'll be fine on their own for a while. After all, didn't they do fine by themselves before you came here?"

I looked over at him and nodded slowly. "I-I guess so."

"See? Everything will be fine. Can we go now?" Asuma asked, his tone still gentle as he gazed into my green eyes.

I nodded once more, my eyes on his. "I think so."

His hands slid away from my shoulders. "Good." He turned, putting his back to me, and kneeled down. "Now, get on." I did as I was told, and he quickly straightened, his hands supporting my thighs. I kept my arms loosely around his neck as he began to walk toward the path. "Let's go." His team began to follow silently, watching as I gave my animals, my only friends, one last, sad wave, then turned to rest my chin on Asuma's shoulder.

After no more than five minutes, my eyes closed, and I found myself unable to fight sleep away anymore. I'd been up for a while now. So, with a sad sigh, I let myself drift off into dreamland, trusting these humans I'd met only a short time ago to keep me safe as I slept.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I awoke at sunset. I found myself laying on the grassy ground beside a dirt path, a jacket under my head as a pillow. I wasn't sure whose it was, and I didn't really care to look.

Groggily, I looked around, searching for my traveling companions. There was a campfire in sight, but no people. I sat up to get a better view of my surroundings. They hadn't all just left me here, had they? A panic began to rise inside me, quashing the tiredness that had a hold of me. Had they abandoned me? They said they wouldn't, but...

"Ino, did you find anything unusual?" I heard Asuma ask suddenly from a patch of trees to my left.

"No," Ino answered from behind me. "I think we're okay here."

"Where have Shikamaru and Chouji gone?" Asuma questioned next as he and Ino met at a point close to me. I turned to watch them.

Ino shrugged, crossing her arms. "I'm not sure. Chouji's probably after food, but Shikamaru..." She trailed off with a sigh.

"Scouting, I'd imagine. But he was supposed to stay here and watch Kikei."

"I did." Shikamaru's voice came from one of the few trees close to where I lay, sounding fairly annoyed at having to defend himself. I looked up just in time to see him stand up on a tree branch, then leap down to where Ino and Asuma had congregated.

"You were asleep on that branch, weren't you?" Asuma accused. Shikamaru merely yawned, looking away to lazily feign innocence. Asuma rolled his eyes with a sigh. "We have a few more hours of travel ahead of us," he stated, changing the subject to one of more importance. "If we wake up early enough tomorrow, we can reach the village by noon."

"Why don't we just travel through the night?" Ino questioned. "None of us are tired yet, and Kikei could lead us in the dark."

Asuma shook his head. "It's too dangerous. If any of the elves found us in an unfamiliar part of the woods in absolute darkness, we wouldn't stand a chance. Sticking to one campsite could allow us to get familiar with the area and keep a small fire going, so if we are found, we might be able to escape."

"He's right," I chimed in as I stood, smoothing my dress. The ninja all turned my way, silent and prepared to listen to anything else I had to say. "Besides, trying to lead a bunch of humans in the dark isn't my idea of a fun time. _Funny_, yes, but not quite _fun_."

Ino sighed, looking down. "I guess so..." Clearly, she wanted to get back home. I cocked my head and couldn't help but wonder why. What was so special about home? But then, it hit me. Family. Friends. These people had those at their home. I didn't even have a home anymore...

"Just relax for a while, Ino," Asuma told the girl softly, also picking up on her need to return to where she belonged. "We'll be home soon enough." I watched as she nodded again, then walked off into the trees, presumably to do some more scouting.

Just after Ino's exit, Chouji walked out of the trees, looking almost depressed. "There's nothing to eat around here."

"Nothing at all?" Asuma asked as he turned to the younger shinobi.

"Nothing at all," Chouji repeated with a solemn nod.

Asuma turned to me, and I shrugged before he could say anything. "I don't know. I know nothing about this particular area." He nodded, more to himself than to me, then set off into the woods.

Shikamaru, Chouji, and I were left alone together in the clearing. The two males looked at each other, then took turns glancing awkwardly my way. I turned my attention to the sky, which was almost completely dark by now.

"It looks like it's going to be a nice night," I commented, just to fill the silence. The males nodded in agreement, Chouji even going so far as to mumble some sort of reply. My eyes slid to them, though my head remained tilted back. "They're going to reach us tonight," I warned them. "Someone is bound to be after us by now, and they're going to find us." I let my gaze drift back to the sky after that, finding it more interesting than the suddenly serious expressions the boys were wearing now.

"How dangerous will they be?" Shikamaru asked, sounding a bit less lazy than usual.

I shrugged, my eyes not leaving the star-filled black depths of the sky. "If they think we're a real threat, they'll send too many to handle. If they're unsure, they'll send just enough to be a problem. If they underestimate us because we're just four humans and a half-breed, we won't have a problem."

"How do you think they feel about us?" Chouji asked cautiously, almost as if he didn't want to know the answer.

I smiled, still gazing up at the stars. "Let's just say we're either going to be perfectly fine or we're all going to die." And with those comforting words, I leapt onto a tree branch and began my own journey into the forest.

-

Quickly, I leapt from one branch to the next. I was heading in the direction from which we'd just come. It may have seemed like a stupid thing to do, heading back toward any possible pursuers we may have had, but I figured it would be better to know what was coming than to have to confront them in a state of chaos and surprise. I knew that there was a great chance of being noticed by our followers this way, though that meant nothing to me, really. At least this way, I could slow them down and get some of them out of the way before they reached the humans.

It wasn't long before I noticed something in the trees ahead of me. There were sounds of rustling leaves and cracking branches everywhere, signs either of a pursuer who didn't care if he was discovered or an animal who felt the same. I continued toward the sounds, though I moved up to a set of higher branches, moving as silently as I possibly could.

I stopped suddenly when I realized the sounds were directly below me. Looking down from my perch, I saw only two elves moving below. They appeared to be younger than the normal hunter-nin from my old village, less skilled and less experienced. Even if the elves had underestimated us, why would they only send two weak males? That was just stupid.

I turned to follow them back toward my camp, but I found myself falling backward from the branch before I could even jump. As I approached the ground, I saw four older elves standing where I'd been, watching my descent with emotionless eyes.

_I really should've seen that coming_, I thought as I flipped in a catlike manner, preparing to land on my feet upon a rapidly approaching branch. The branch creaked and wobbled when I landed, sounding as if it would break at any moment, but it somehow managed to hold. The older elves fell upon me the moment I turned in the direction I'd originally come from, the younger ones watching from nearby.

A blow to the jaw was the first thing I felt, then a punch to the stomach, a kick to the back, a blow to the throat. I was sent hurdling toward the ground below in less than a second. They wouldn't just let me hit, though. That would've been too easy. Instead, two of them used their speed to appear below me while the others merely leaped from the branch to follow me.

The pair below me kicked me toward the two above, who both landed a simultaneous blow to my stomach that knocked the wind out of me once more and sent me back toward the ground. This time, they let me hit, both appearing on the branches above me to watch in silence.

_Why did I decide to do this again?_ I wondered as I slowly sat up, wincing at the pain in my every limb and wiping a bit of blood from the corner of my mouth. _This is suicide._

I stood now, glaring up at the elves. "How brave of you to fight four on one," I said sarcastically. "You might not have stood a chance otherwise." Without bothering to make a reply, the elves turned in the direction of the camp and began their journey once more, leaving me alone with the younger elves.

"Cowards!" I shouted, unable to do anything but watch them go. I knew that trying to follow would only have the younger elves on me faster. I turned my annoyed glare to them now. "Well, what are you waiting for? Don't you want to play, too?" Again, I received no reply, but they did leap from their perches to land before me.

Only one of them lunged at me at first, unarmed and silent. I dodged his first few attacks, then landed a blow of my own to his jaw. The sound of an unhealthy crack rang through the forest, followed by the sound of his body colliding with a tree. He got back to his feet quickly, however, and this time, he lunged alongside his comrade.

I was forced to leap back to avoid the barrage of kicks and punches the males were attempting now. My back soon met a tree, however, forcing me to duck down to dodge a punch. Chunks of bark rained down upon me when the male's fist struck the tree instead of my face. I had no time to move again, though, a foot connecting with my cheek under a second later. I was sent sprawling onto the grass, a bit of blood spattering across the ground before me.

I quickly got to my knees, but I still wasn't moving quickly enough. A foot hit my side this time, knocking me onto my back, then another foot slammed into my stomach. I cried out in pain.

"Why are we even wasting our time on this half-breed?" the taller of the two asked as they both stood over me.

"I don't know. She's not even putting up much of a fight," the other answered disgustedly.

I stared up at them, my sight clouded by pain. I could see that neither of them had a broken jaw, though; thus, I began to damn elfin healing as well as strength and speed. It was so unfair that they had everything and I had next to nothing.

"What a waste of elfin blood," one of the males spat, drawing his foot back to kick me again. I caught it when he brought it forward, however, my pain being driven back by my anger and my jealousy.

As the boy tried to pull his foot from my grasp, I quickly got to my knees, then my feet. I spun once, lifting him off of the ground and hitting his companion, knocking him to the ground. I released him at the start of the second spin, watching as he flew toward a large tree trunk. Whether he hit or managed to save himself, I didn't find out, because the other elf was already on his feet and attacking me.

This one was tapping into his speed, throwing several punches a second. I dodged most of them, and the few that did hit me were weak enough that they barely fazed me. Clearly, these two were unskilled in the art of balancing their strength and their speed.

I tackled the male suddenly, deciding that I'd had enough of this. I landed on top of him and did the only useful thing I could think to do: I reached back and punched him directly in his balls. The resulting shock from the blow was just what I'd needed.

I stood quickly, put my fingers to my lips, and blew. The whistle carried for what seemed like miles, echoing about the expansive forest and reaching even the highest tree tops. I didn't know if it would do any good, as the animals here were unlikely to understand the call, being so far from elfin contact, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try.

Both of the males were on their feet by the time my whistle faded. I watched them, fear finally striking me when I realized that no one was coming to help me, be they animal or human. I was doomed, destined to be killed by these two untrained, inexperienced, low-life elves.

But then, suddenly, I heard something in the trees above me. The chirping of birds was everywhere. It wasn't just one or two, either. It sounded like hundreds, maybe even thousands. I also heard several barks from nearby, the voices of wild dogs. There were squirrels chittering about as well, gathering with the birds on the branches above.

The boys seemed a bit frightened now, looking from the birds and the squirrels to the dogs that were beginning to surround them, scruff and angry and menacing. They both whistled their hardest, but the animals didn't react. For some reason, they'd taken to me. They refused to be swayed.

Wide-eyed, I looked around at the army of creatures that had come to my aid. There were so many...and they had no reason to come for me... "Thank you," I said softly to them. "Thank you."

After almost a minute, I recovered from my shock and turned back to the elves. They were now merely two scared little boys, boys with no power over me who stood no chance against me. I thought briefly about sparing them, but then, I realized that they would only further pursue me if I let them live. Thus, with one more whistle, I gave the order. As the animals advanced upon the elves, I turned and started back toward my camp, accompanied only by the screams of two foolish boys and the growls and screeches of the animals who were saving my life for some unknown reason.


End file.
